07:17 PM PST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005

By kgw.com and AP Staff

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- State Sen. Dan Swecker has a simple plan for fixing Washington's state and local highways: raise the gasoline tax by a penny a gallon annually for the next 20 years.

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Those pennies add up. His proposal would generate $12 billion over the next two decades, with $4.6 billion earmarked for local projects and $7.4 billion available for state and regional highway projects.

It's the latest proposal being floated by Washington state lawmakers who face a backlog of $50 billion in state and local transportation projects, including a new freeway bridge over the Columbia River at Vancouver.

Swecker, R-Rochester, the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, wants the state to provide 50-50 matching funds for mega-projects in Vancouver and elsewhere.

Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said earlier this month she could support a two-step, 4-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase. She said the plan could raise $3.5 billion toward building a new state Route 520 bridge across Lake Washington in the Seattle area.

Haugen also proposed indexing the tax so that it slowly grows with inflation. She also suggested a gross-weight fee on vehicles, including passenger cars.

Her House counterpart, Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said he will wait to announce a revenue proposal until lawmakers agree on the needed size of the transportation budget. He said Haugen's plan is the minimum necessary.

Swecker's plan, introduced Wednesday, is for the Washington Legislature to vote this session for a one-cent increase in each of the next five years, followed by an accountability report from the Transportation Commission. If lawmakers were satisfied, another five-year plan would be adopted — and so on for a total of 20 years.

His proposal also would allow the commission to impose tolls for corridors in the Puget Sound area to help pay for current and future projects. He projects that tolls would begin in 2010 and could total $3.2 billion through 2024.

Swecker said the five-cent increase approved two years ago, to 28 cents a gallon, was an important first step, but that much more revenue will be needed.

"We need a long-term and stable funding plan that allows us to address our transportation needs without being a financial burden on drivers," he said. "This plan qualifies on both counts."

Swecker's plan also adopts a pay-as-you-go approach, using cash for projects rather than selling bonds.

Swecker's plan is Senate Bill 6083.